BURIED TOGETHER
Partner Wesley Mercer,
Justin Dehnert
Queer Places:
870 St Nicholas Ave, New York, NY 10032
Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
Manhattan, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA
William Earle
(Bill) Randolph, Jr. (July 25, 1956 - May 15, 2021) was born in New Rochelle, NY on July 25, 1956.
Bill was a graduate of the High School for the Performing Arts (the FAME High School), and from the Manhattan
School of Music where he studied organ and church music with Frederick Swann, then organist at The Riverside
Church. Independent studies were at Oberlin Conservatory and the Royal School of Church Music Courses held at Princeton
University. In 1983, Bill studied in Paris with Jean Langlais, and in London with Christopher Dearnely. In
1988, he was invited to participate in the Grand Prix de Chartres Organ Competition in Improvisation and was awarded
Outstanding Young Man of America. Bill was the last organist to play the Easter Sunrise Service at Radio City Music Hall,
and in 1996 was appointed the first Associate Cathedral Organist in its music history to work under Dorothy Papadakos. He
performed for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, Nelson Mandela and he played the
Inauguration Service for Mayor David Dinkins.
Bill and his first husband, Wesley Mercer, lived together for about twenty years. Bill was on a dialysis machine on the
morning of 9/11, watching on TV, knowing that Wesley was inside the towers. Wesley died a hero that day, helping people
out of the stricken buildings. About eleven years later, he met
Justin Dehnert, who became his dear companion and domestic
partner, making music together very happily during Bill’s final fifteen years.
Bill performed at the Anglican and Roman Cathedrals in Barbados, and in 2000,
he gave recitals at The Riverside Church,
St. Thomas 5th Avenue, The Interchurch Center, Abyssinian Baptist Church, City Temple Baptist in Baltimore, and Grace
Congregational Church in Rutland Vermont. In the summers of 2018 and 2019, Bill gave recitals on the largest pipe organ
in the world at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, becoming the first person of color to be invited to do so, and drawing the
largest audience ever to attend a summer performance there.
Bill was Director of Music and Organist at the Church of the Intercession for nearly 30 years, from 1983–1993,
then from 2002 until his death. Between 1993–2001, he served as Director of Music and Organist at historic St. Philip’s
Episcopal Church in Harlem, and at St. George’s Church, Stuyvesant Square. He
was also Assistant Cathedral Organist at The
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Adjunct Organist at Columbia University and Organist at The Marymount School for Girls
on the Upper East Side.
Bill passed away on May 15, 2021, after a long illness.
My published books:
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